The potty:
Henry is really, really close to being totally "potty trained" (Eh. I hate that phrase. He isn't a dog. But anyway.). We have entire days now when everything goes into the potty or toilet. I will be forever indebted to Fresh Wave for helping us turn the "poop corner." We have a Fresh Wave Odor Neutralizing Spray in each bathroom. Henry is into spritzing and was interested in it. So one day, off the cuff, I told him that it was a special poopie spritzer: only people who put their poopies into the toilet or potty get to use it. Right then -- no joke -- he sat down and started grunting. He was that into the idea of the poopie spritzer. That was a couple of weeks ago now and he's gotten more and more consistent. He still sometimes resists -- and acts like it is going to kill him to sit on the potty. Big tears and tantrums. But more often now he just says, "I need to use the bathroom" ... we run to the toilet, I help him get situated, and he does his business. Sometimes he starts running laps around the house and I know it is time to get him to the bathroom. Is he trying to run away from the urge? Who knows. He has all sorts of nonverbal signals and tuning into them makes me wish we would've experimented with elimination communication. Good old hindsight.
The first fire of the season:
I think we will have a very busy fireplace this winter. When Henry sees Eric after work on a cool day he doesn't say "Hi Daddy," but rather, "Daddy make a fire?" Together, they trot out to the wood pile behind the garage. Henry has the important job of carrying the flashlight. Then Eric uses the very fascinating fireplace tools while Henry is glued to his side. It's all very cozy ... and will hopefully continue to be a bright spot for all of us on some of those gloomy, frigid winter days.
Feeding the critters:
Let's just say that we have some chunky squirrels circling our house. After squirrels dug into our first pumpkins of the season (and made Henry cry when he saw the holes in them!), we decided to "join them." We cut the huge remaining pumpkin in half and left the squirrels to enjoy an all-you-can-eat-buffet. Henry has been enjoying putting out corncobs and seeds for the critters. Our full birdfeeders get devoured and emptied within a day. We even created this "special treat" -- an organic granny smith apple covered in Sunbutter and rolled in birdseed. Nothing but the best for our birds. Heh. It saw some immediate action, but nothing since ... go figure.
Fall feet:
Enough said.
HobbyLobbyitis:
Always a day late, I find myself scratching my head at the greenhouse every spring. Where is the sweet potato vine? Why are they so picked over already? This fall has been no exception. I had the best of intentions to do some festive fall decorating around here. I bought a flat of little mums to mix in our urns ... only to forget to water them and watch them shrivel up before being planted. The squirrels attacked all of our pumpkins. I got all wrapped up in launching Alphabelle and let everything else slide. But now we're making up for it. I was able to track down some questionable-looking clearance mums to replace the fatalities (I mean, really, it is only October 15!). Eric rolled his eyes as he helped me carry in umpteen Hobby Lobby bags, "Henry, I think Mama bought a lot of weird stuff. She's a little too excited by Hobby Lobby." Well, OK, guilty as charged. I tend to get a little carried away. And although, on the surface, I find Hobby Lobby to be really annoying ... somehow I can spend hours in that place. I'm suddenly fascinated by paper mache boxes ... or the assortment of styles of popsicle sticks. So, poor Henry has been witness to the crazy cart-full of orange/pumpkiny/leafy/ribbon/twig/wreath/red/brown/screaming-fall assorted crap goodies. He survived the greenhouse and their 40% all fall decor sale. He helped put together our festive fall urns (and when showing our project to Eric later, Henry pointed out the "kitty sticks" that he stuck in the urns. Gotta love him. Those were cattails).
Being festive is hard work -- must refuel after Hobby Lobby marathon:
Ahhh ... spirulina green juice tastes better out of a coffee cup with the "lady" on it (really, he likes it ... chooses it himself out of the refrigerator case):
Shortly after I took this picture it started to rain. When Henry pleaded to me to stop the rain, I explained to him that Mother Nature has to decide when it rains, etc. Later, he was babbling about rain and said that Mr. Frumble decides when it rains. I stopped him, "What did you just say about Mr. Frumble? Did you mean Mother Nature?" Um, affirmative. Mother Nature / crazy-driving cartoon pig; tomato / tomahto. Kitty sticks, Mr. Frumble-Nature -- I so love it when the boy makes me laugh.
Part of our finished product:
A magical place:
We have somehow become "regulars" at a Chicagoland hotel. Not that anyone recognizes us, but we've developed a little routine. Henry is probably going to be confused next time we stay at another hotel -- after this many stays in a row, this joint is probably synonymous with "hotel" in Henry's mind. The hotel is fine -- not terribly exciting, but Eric really loves one part of the routine. When I'm showering in the morning, Henry and Eric make a coffee run to the nearest Starbucks. This one happens to be adjacent to an idyllic park, complete with pond, fountain, geese, ducks, and two grand white swans. And lots of trees and a graceful church steeple on the horizon. It has become a bit of a special place for father and son. Last time we were there (for the third in the series of nephews' birthday parties), I tagged along to get coffee and got to snap this photo of my smiling boys at the park.
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